Before we begin the transmission, I would like to say what path we go through when we follow the practice in our Sanatana Dharma community. We accept the Creed, then strive to do the basic practices. I give my students the task of completing the basic practices. The basic practices include:
- concentration on a point, on a candle flame, and on visualizing an object: a syllable or a deity
- meditation on the Four Mindfulnesses
- meditation on the Four Immeasurables
- the Om mantra and prostrations
These preliminary basic practices may take someone perhaps a year, six months, or perhaps two years, but they are very important because they prepare us for more complex types of practice. Then a person can take Refuge and receive dikshas. Dikshas can be received from the very beginning:
shastra-kripa-diksha – the blessing of the sacred text
karma-sannyasa-diksha – the blessing of the spiritual name and the Guru mantra
ishta-devata-diksha – initiation into the chosen deity
When these dikshas have been completed, one can practice retreats, the practice of seclusion, do seva, and move higher and higher. In other words, on the spiritual path we always try to move forward, not to stand still. But on the other hand, the very desire to walk the path, the movement along the path, must have the right motivation. It should come not from the ego, not from the desire for personal achievements and success, but from the motivation of serving the divine will, serving all living beings. Such motivation will always bless you on the spiritual path and help you.
The Teaching of Laya Yoga and the Principle of Samaya
So, I will now transmit the practice, the theurgical practice No. 1, which is very important in the section of the Yoga of the Illusory Body. The teaching of Laya Yoga, as a sacred part of the Teaching of Advaita Vedanta and Sanatana Dharma, is the Teaching of the siddhas. And I consider this Teaching especially valuable among all the teachings that we study. Advaita, Sanatana Dharma contains an infinite multitude of teachings. But it is precisely the teaching of Laya Yoga that I consider to be the core of the spiritual practice of the siddhas.
Therefore, it must be treated with boundless reverence and respect, kept secret, not revealed to those who do not share the samaya, so that it does not lose its blessing power and may liberate many generations of spiritual seekers in the future. This spirit of respect we call samaya.
The principle of samaya is the principle of elevated relations, an elevated connection, a respectful attitude that we establish with the Master, with the Teaching, with the sangha, with ourselves, and with divine beings. Ultimately, with the entire Universe as well. When we have such pure, elevated relations, they bless us, and our spiritual path will be blessed.
Such principles of samaya include observing the fourteen root vows. These vows are not some external obligations; rather, they are inner commitments to maintain purity in relation to the Master, to the Teaching, to the sangha, to all living beings, and compassion. To safeguard one’s inner energy, not to squander it, including sexual energy; to respect women; not to deny compassion to living beings; to keep secret the tantric teachings that have been transmitted; to respect all the methods one uses. The fourteen root vows in tantra are the same as yama and niyama in yoga.
The Principles of Yama and Niyama in Sanatana Dharma
In Sanatana Dharma, when we enter the Path of Sanatana Dharma, the principles of yama and niyama are very important. Without these principles, whatever we do will not be successful, because yama and niyama set for us a pattern of behavior, a way of life. And the Vedic tradition is built on these principles; every self-respecting yogin understands how to follow them, how to observe them.
These are pieces of advice and simple instructions; they are not commandments as in Christianity. For example, in Christianity there are the Ten Commandments of Moses, written on the tablets. It is believed that Moses received them from the burning bush and showed them to the people of Israel. Here the attitude is somewhat different. Yama and niyama are rather advice, instructions, principles on how to live correctly in order to be true sadhus.
The Ten Principles of Yama
Ahimsa — nonviolence
Ahimsa means not harming anyone either by word, speech, or thought; on the contrary, helping all living beings. For example, if you buy out fish that someone wants to eat (and someone always wants to eat them), crabs, crayfish, animals, or cows, and release them, thereby preserving their lives, this prolongs your own life and improves your own energy. We have students who already do this. And I always recommend it; I would like my students to continue doing it.
If we do not take care of these poor living beings, then who will take care of them at all? Because people constantly want to eat them. How would you feel if someone who is superior to you wanted to eat you? Vedic culture is a culture of nonviolence; we do not want to eat anyone, we want to let them go so that they may live and be free. And we need to popularize our beliefs, we need to say that the people of Sanatana Dharma act this way and that it is normal: not to eat birds, fish, or animals, but to release them into freedom.
This primarily benefits you, because it purifies your own karma, gives you merit, increases your life force, and increases your lifespan. And if someone is very fond of fishing, one should advise him to use a fishing rod with a hook on which no one can be caught. You can feed fish from the hook if someone wants to sit in silence by the sea in the morning—let him sit. But let him make a hook on which bread can be threaded, but with which no one can be hooked and caught.
If someone wants to hunt, you can tell him: make yourself a gun with which no one can be killed. You can pull the trigger; it will make a bang. You will receive aesthetic pleasure while walking through the forest, but you will not harm anyone, nor create for yourself the karma of hell in future lives.
Because the spirits of killed animals, the spirits of killed fish, in the intermediate state in antar-loka, when the soul leaves the body and its fate is being decided, they come, they demand retribution. They appeal to the lords of karma and say: “Look at this person, how many living beings he has killed; does he deserve the heavenly paradise, does he deserve an earthly incarnation? He must feel the same as we felt.” And often such people themselves do not understand what they are doing.
But Vedic culture is a culture of ahimsa, nonviolence. And this nonviolence must permeate everything—our thoughts. It is not only physical violence, but even mental violence. We must not commit violence with words or thoughts, even with good motivation. For example, you want someone to enter the path of Dharma, and we want to literally take him by the ear and bring him to a spiritual center for yoga, to the Master, to Divya Loka. But these are not our methods. A person cannot be brought to the spiritual path by the ear if the soul itself has not made such a choice. We must say: “This is your choice; you yourself must seek the path.” Preaching may exist, it should exist, but we cannot impose it. We must never commit any violence, especially physical violence.
Satya — following the truth
Satya means following the truth; this is another principle. To follow the truth always, to follow the truth in everything. Some translate it as “truthfulness,” but that is not quite the right translation, because truth in the sense of factual rightness is a relative concept: what is true for one person is false for another. But the Truth is an infallible concept, because the Truth is God, it is Dharma, it is Sanatana Dharma.
Take, for example, the case of Snowden. Snowden went and disclosed all the secrets of the United States; this is a well-known scandalous story, everyone knows about it: all the secrets of the CIA and the NSA, he revealed everything they were doing there. And so who is he? He told the truth. America considers him a scoundrel, a villain, a spy, a vile person. That he worsened the security and defense capability of the state. Caused enormous losses. And other people (from Europe, from Russia) say: he is a fine fellow, he defends people’s rights against the worldwide conspiracy and the control of the world government. He opened people’s eyes to the essence of America, which watches everyone.
It is a dual situation: on the one hand, he is a vile spy, and on the other hand, he is, it would seem, a hero. Therefore, when we say “truthfulness,” in a dualistic world this is a very slippery concept. But when we say “satya”—this is the Truth, to hold to the Truth always and everywhere—we will not be mistaken. If we hold to the Truth, and the Truth is what is expressed by the Vedas, the sacred scriptures, the saints, everything that leads into the divine dimension, leads to the liberation of the soul, we will never be mistaken.
Asteya — self-sufficiency
The next principle is asteya: do not go into debt, do not steal. More broadly, it can be interpreted as follows: do not ask the Universe for more than is necessary, do not be so dependent, so material; be whole, be self-sufficient. We do not reject the material world, material energy; we can use it without any problems, we can touch money.
There are some sadhus in India who take such a vow. For example, Ramakrishna took such an inner vow: never to touch money. And one disciple, at night, took some money and touched his finger with it while he was sleeping. Ramakrishna even groaned. But we, as practitioners of Anuttara Tantra, look at material goods differently: they are simply energy; it is neither bad nor good. But depending on how we deal with it, it can bring karma, problems, or it can serve good purposes.
And we try not to become attached to this energy, but to make it serve Sanatana Dharma, serve God, and benefit everyone. That is, if there is any material energy, then one can make a temple out of it, sculpt a deity, create a retreat center, and many people will come there and attain enlightenment. But we do not try, with its help, to particularly enjoy our senses or appropriate it for ourselves.
Brahmachari — divine conduct
The next principle is — brahmachari. Brahma means the Absolute, Brahman, and “charya” means conduct. That is, conduct in truth, divine conduct. Brahmachari means that we must act consciously in relation to sexual energy and, in general, to all our actions. Not only to sexual energy; sexual energy is one of the energies of the body, and there are many such energies in the body.
We must act consciously, as masters, in relation to any of our energies, not waste it, not follow our desires, and live in a state of balance and harmony (samyoga). If you work with the winds and channels and know how to purify them, then your energy is not wasted, but accumulated. The art of accumulating energy, not wasting it, not emptying yourself, the art of not letting foreign energies into yourself, the art of making energy circulate through the channels and enter the central channel, revealing the deities in the chakras, revealing the deities in the higher chakras, opening the subtle circuits of consciousness — all of this is brahmachari.
And we need to learn to handle our energy in such a way that this energy benefits us, heals and rejuvenates the body, leads to samadhi, and does not lead to illness, imbalances, and problems.
If you are family people, then sex with orgasm is permissible only for conceiving children, because it is impossible to conceive children without the loss of semen — this is clear to everyone. But at all other times orgasm must not be allowed, and sexual relations should not be frequent; they should take place only at a certain time, on the day of the new moon or the full moon. And these relations must be controlled by the power of awareness, by the power of managing the winds and channels. That is, these should not be worldly desires, but a way of working with inner energy.
And if you are able to understand sexual energy as energy, just as in Kundalini Yoga, in pranayama, and instead of expending energy through the svadhisthana chakra, direct it into the central channel and achieve the processes of chandali yoga — raising it upward along the spine so that it causes nectar and circulates — then this will be brahmachari for family people. But for hermits, brahmachari means that you simply distance yourself from the opposite sex; for monks, those who have vows. But for brahmacharis and karma-sannyasis, these vows are not obligatory; what is obligatory is the management of energy, the refusal to lose energy.
But brahmachari does not concern only sexual energy. When you eat correctly, your energy blesses you and energy accumulates within you — this is also a form of brahmachari. When you control your speech, conversations, so that your energy accumulates and is not lost, and your sight — this is also a form of brahmachari. One must become a master in managing one’s energy, not following desires.
There are three ways here:
The first way is simply to suppress desires, to subdue them so that they do not interfere with you.
The second way is to leave desires as they are, as they function, but to make the energy of desires work for your enlightenment. To use the energy of desires to attain samadhi. This is the principle of tantra. Tantra transforms everything, sublimates it.
Finally, the third way is when we can leave our desires as they are. And instead of suppressing them or fighting them and transforming them into something positive, we simply contemplate, and we unite our contemplation with the desires; then the desires calm down by themselves. Instead of following desires, we abide in the primordial natural state — this is the method of Anuttara Tantra.
But in any case, whatever you do, your desires must be conquered. It is a false notion that tantra says desires should be encouraged. Neither tantra nor Anuttara Tantra leaves desires as they are. In any case, desires must be purified, dissolved, and transformed into the divine; only the methods are different.
When there is equilibrium within us and we control our desires, this is called samyoga. A sadhu is one who lives in a state of equilibrium with all creation, with the five elements, with other people, and with the entire Universe. And all of this is the principle of brahmachari.
The other principles of yama
Kshama means patience. We must cultivate within ourselves the great quality of patience. And this is a way to pacify one’s mind.
Dhriti means perseverance. We need to constantly overcome a lack of persistence, overcome fears, indecision, and the fickleness of the mind. We need to acquire such perseverance on the spiritual path.
Daya means compassion. Our whole life should be permeated with actions and thoughts of compassion. And when some coarse, callous, cruel feelings arise within us, we must remember them and overcome them with the power of compassion. We must fight our egoism with the power of compassion. If we have no compassion, it means we have not succeeded on the spiritual path; it means there is something we do not understand at all.
Arjava means rejecting bad behavior and becoming established in honesty and magnanimity.
Mitahara means: control your appetite, eat vegetarian food, do not eat living beings.
Shaucha means purity. Avoid impure thoughts, impure actions of the body or speech. No yoga will help if there is no shaucha, because yoga is penetration into the dimension of purity. So, these are the 10 principles of yama.
The Ten Principles of Niyama
Hri — repentance
Hri means repentance. Repentance means the ability to review one’s wrong actions and deeds, and to acknowledge them before God, before one’s Higher Self, before the Ishta-devata, before the Tree of Refuge, before the Guru, or before others. It does not matter before whom; the main thing is that inner work be carried out, that we do not cling to our habitual way of thinking, and that we know how to analyze thoughts and consciousness. And if our consciousness has taken a wrong position somewhere, then there is no problem in carrying out a review and repentance. But if we cannot do this, it means we have strong clinging, strong eternalism.
Santosha — contentment
Santosha means being always content. This does not mean being a self-satisfied person; rather, it means always being whole, not seeking anything superfluous, not being capricious, seeking happiness and contentment within oneself, and accepting everything the Universe gives.
For example, if you are such a great and important person, and something has not been done for you properly, you may become very indignant and demand to be respected. For example, stars sometimes do this, pop stars. If some stars are not presented with a bouquet of their favorite flowers at the airplane, and there is no jacuzzi in the room, then there will be a tantrum, a scandal with the administration organizing the star’s arrival.
But if it is a sadhu, then he lives according to the principle of always being content. For example, when we were at Kailash, I remembered one guest house, a hotel. Those who have been to Kailash remember it. The greatest hotel I have ever stayed in: a ceiling made of wooden beams, and the building itself made of clay, with several plank beds inside. But it offers a view of Kailash and Milarepa’s cave. Eight stars.
And there were other hotels there; there were different lilas, when different people literally tried to seize rooms from one another. There were not enough rooms, while everyone wanted to settle somewhere: Russians, Indians, some other foreigners, some mismatches, everyone sorting things out, and all of it was so interesting. It is always interesting for me to observe that people go on pilgrimage in order to elevate their mind, but here such tests come to them, and they find themselves in such situations where they forget everything. The entire pilgrimage comes down to a struggle over who will get which room, where someone will sleep, which room someone will receive, and which group will win.
But these are tests, because pilgrimage tests us: how aware we are. But if you have this principle of santosha, you have no problems: you can sleep on the floor, you can sleep in a room, you can ultimately not sleep at all, but you will be content, you will not suffer too much.
Dana — giving
Dana means giving, donation. Give, and do it without thoughts of reward. Sacrifice, giving, is the right way of relating to the Universe. For example, we perform yajnas and havans, and we offer samugri (a mixture of medicinal herbs) and ghee into the fire. It is believed that yajna restores harmony with the Universe, with the deities, and with the elements of the five elements. That is, it restores all broken connections. Even if we have done something wrong in life, committed mistakes, then by performing a yajna, we harmonize all connections in past lives.
Why does disharmony arise? Because everyone has egoism and everyone likes to take, but if beings are in ignorance, they do not like to give. But when we give, we act in the role of a deity. And by sacrificing, we ourselves establish favorable connections with the Universe.
And in general, Vedic culture is built on the principle of sacrifice. In this culture there are four classes of people: brahmacharis, grihasthas, vanaprasthas, and sannyasis. Brahmacharis are young students on the spiritual path, grihasthas are householders, vanaprasthas are hermits, and sannyasis are complete renunciates. And in this culture, three classes out of four are those who live on donations. Grihasthas, meanwhile, are the only class that obtains material goods, and they obtain them not in order to enjoy them, but in order to support these three classes, because these three classes are spiritual classes: they undergo training, engage in spiritual practice, and for a householder (grihastha), supporting them is a matter of honor.
In fact, Vedic culture is three-quarters (especially in ancient times, but not now; nowadays in India you will not find much truly Vedic culture, because it is Kali Yuga), but in ancient times Vedic society was three-quarters a society of donation, of sacrifice. And making offerings was a matter of honor for kings, kshatriyas, politicians, and brahmins. And this still exists in Vedic culture in India today as well. If in Russia or Ukraine a person thinks: I have a BMW, I have a big house, a dacha, I am an important person, then there a person thinks: I will gather 100 brahmins, I will organize a bhandara for a thousand sannyasis, and everyone says: “yes, good, an important person.” Another thinks: “I built a temple, I made a shelter for sadhus, I give everything I can for this,” and everyone says: “yes, that is a great person!” This culture still remains, and we also need to learn to understand the meanings and values of this culture.
When we give, we become greater; when we take, we become smaller. Because when we take, take, take, it means we are signaling to the Universe: I have nothing inside, I am very poor inside, I need so much from outside because inside I am nothing, because the Universe gives me nothing, because from the Divine Spirit I am incapable of receiving anything, I am poor. In fact, all people who are engaged in accumulation, accumulation, accumulation are signaling their inner poverty. They take from outside because inside they greatly lack their own energy.
I am not referring to those people who use their energy for patronage, who support Dharma; they simply manage material resources in order to support Dharma. I am talking about those who try to enjoy the senses, who try to become egoistically attached, to satisfy themselves.
On the contrary, when we give, we say: I am like a deity, I am a giver, I am a broad soul, I have much within me, I am not sorry to part with anything. Because divine beings are predominantly giving beings; they are not takers. It has never happened that a deity came to you in meditation or in a dream and said: “give me this”; that is unthinkable. Deities never ask; in principle, they cannot ask, because they surpass human beings, they have so much of everything—wisdom, love, beauty, harmony, blessings—they come and say: “what do you want?” They never say: “do you know what I want?” They will never come to a person like that.
And if we want to become like deities, like divine beings, we must learn to say to people: “what do you want?” “How can I help you?” “Can I help you?” But if we go around saying: “How can you help me?” “Help me!” it means that you do not have the space of divinity within you; you have not opened it, you do not use it, you do not even know about it, you are a very dependent person.
And so the mentality of the taker must be changed into the mentality of the giver. Even if you have nothing, even if you are a beggar, it does not matter; the main thing is the mentality. You can give another person your love, you can give another your involvement, attention, feed him; after all, what matters is not what is outside, but the attitude you have.
And many people have the mentality of a taker, which is why they also have nothing on the outside; it is taken away. The mentality of a taker is the mentality of a person without santosha, of an unsatisfied person. And such a person may even be outwardly rich, but inside he is still not satisfied, he is not whole. Conversely, you may be a beggar outwardly, but if you have the mentality of a giver, then you will feel like a king; inside you will be completely self-sufficient and divine.
Once my students suggested to me, one of the students said: “There is an opportunity to meet with Rothschild. But we need to prepare so well that he likes our project; then he may invest in this project, we need to think everything through so well.” I replied: “If Rothschild wants to, let him come to me, because I am richer than he is; I do not need to go anywhere, I am much richer than he is. What does he have that I do not have? It is just that my wealth is converted into another currency; it is spiritual wealth. Compared to me, Rothschild is simply a beggar.”
Every master is rich, every sadhu. Even you are much richer, because you have the Dharma and you practice, because true wealth is spiritual wealth. And when you feel rich because of the Dharma, no material wealth will ever impress you; you will always have the mentality of one who gives. This is the principle of dana, of giving.
Astikya — faith
Astikya means faith. Firmly believe in God, the gods, the Guru, the path of Enlightenment, and your divine “I.” We must become established in faith, strengthen ourselves in faith, invoke faith, because faith is the sutratma (the thread that permeates the entire universe). After all, our subtle body is a manifestation of Ishvara; our physical body is another manifestation of Ishvara. Our subtle body is Ishvara in the form of Taijasa; our physical body is Ishvara in the form of Vishva; our causal body is also Ishvara, God in the form of Prajna. How can we not have faith if everything consists of God, if everything consists of divine material?
And when we have little faith, that is not frightening; what is frightening is when we remain at the level of having little faith. When we have little faith, we can invoke faith and receive wisdom on how to strengthen and increase this faith, but we must not remain in a state of little faith. From little faith one must move to firm faith; from firm faith one must move to diamond-like, vajra, indestructible faith. From diamond-like indestructible faith one must move to miraculous faith, to faith that materializes any intentions and changes the laws of physics.
Ishvara-pujana — worship
Ishvara-pujana is worship. Cultivate devotion through daily puja and meditation. Ishvara-pujana is, in general, the spirit of worshiping the divine. And we need to cultivate such a spirit constantly. We must learn to see the divine in every person, in sacred objects, in ourselves, in the lineage of Masters, in images of deities, in temples, in the elements of nature: in earth, in water, in fire, wind, and space. There is divinity in all of this; we only need special eyes — divya-jnana-indriyas — in order to see it.
For example, for us the sea is simply the sea, but if we have divine vision, we can see the element of water as the body of the God Varuna, as the body of an Enlightened Being. The earth for us is simply earth. But if we have divine vision, we can see the earth as the dense body of the Goddess Bhumi. Fire is simply fire, but in subtle vision fire is the body of the god Agni. Wind is simply the movement of air masses, atmospheric fluctuations, but from the point of view of pure vision, divine vision, it is the body of the god Vayu.
And behind every element there are deities; behind time there is a deity. Time is simply a substance registered by instruments for measuring time. From the point of view of Sanatana Dharma, time is Kala, Mahakala — a great deity who governs transformation; it is a great energy with which we can enter into conscious relations. We need to cultivate within ourselves the spirit of worshiping the divine everywhere, always, and in everything.
The remaining principles of niyama
Siddhanta-shravana — listening to the Scriptures. Study the scriptures and listen to the sages.
Mati — knowledge. Develop will and intellect under the guidance of the Guru.
Vrata — sacred vows. Fulfill the religious rules and vows you have undertaken.
Japa — sing or recite sacred mantras daily.
Tapas (austerity) — perform sadhana, tapas, perform spiritual practice.
All these are the 10 rules of niyama, which should be observed by everyone who follows the path of Sanatana Dharma.
Thus, yama, niyama, and pancha-nitya-karma are the way of life, the mentality that prepares us for how to be sadhus. This is the outer level. On the inner level are the 14 root vows of samaya; this is the level of tantra (what we were discussing before this lecture). Finally, on the secret level, we must adhere to the single samaya of contemplation — this is our main vow and main rule.
The single samaya of contemplation consists in living at all times in a state of awareness and meditation, not allowing oneself to be unconscious. Not being unconscious while standing, sitting, or lying down, during the arising of thoughts or conversation, always observing the mind and meditating on the Supreme Source.
Thus, the principles of yama-niyama, the 14 root vows, and the single samaya of contemplation are the three circles of rules that we follow when entering the path of the Teaching. One should begin with yama-niyama, then move on to the 14 root vows of tantra, and finally become established in the highest commitment, the commitment to abide in sahaja samadhi. That is, the single samaya of contemplation is sahaja samadhi. It is the commitment to maintain a deep meditative state always and everywhere. And this meditative state is meditation on the Supreme Source, the Absolute. It is not meditation on a point, a chakra, or the breath; it is always meditation on Brahman.
Naturalness in Observing the Principles
Having once taken Refuge and accepted the principles, one should become established in them in such a way that they do not constrain, but are as natural as possible. Rules and principles are not given in order to limit us, so they should be perceived not from the mind, but from meditative consciousness. They should become as natural for us as eating or breathing naturally. This is the natural self-discipline of a Master or a high-level yogin.
Because one person once came and said, “Somehow I am unable to maintain natural awareness.” And I said, “And what is the problem—when exactly are you unable to?” And he said, “Well, sometimes when I have a drink, I have no awareness at all.” And I said, “Then why do you drink?” He said, “I have to—business, that kind of company, I have to socialize, and without it, it’s impossible.” “And why do you need such company?” “Well, because I need a lot of this, that, and the other...” I said, “What you are lacking are precisely these points—yama-niyama. The issue is not awareness. Do the simplest thing, and it will be easy for you to meditate.”
